


Orchestral Memoirs

by SmallGiantsKing910



Category: Original Work
Genre: Fluff, M/M, Orchestra, Public Display of Affection, Tooth-Rotting Fluff
Language: English
Status: Completed
Published: 2019-05-05
Updated: 2019-05-05
Packaged: 2020-02-26 19:30:50
Rating: General Audiences
Warnings: No Archive Warnings Apply
Chapters: 1
Words: 3,023
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/18723496
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/SmallGiantsKing910/pseuds/SmallGiantsKing910
Summary: "Let me tell you now about the one and only time my baton actually slipped from my hand without my noticing. It was a night that was both special and ordinary."A fake extract from a fictional autobiography. Actually just a oneshot inspired by a very sweet dream I had one night.





	Orchestral Memoirs

##### Anecdote 17 – The bronze concert

Let me tell you now about the one and only time my baton actually slipped from my hand without my noticing. I would be lying if I said I was going to "try" relating the entire evening here, because this one memory is the kind that always stay strangely vivid no matter how many years pass by.

It was a night that was both special and ordinary. It was special for only six of us, since it was the 22nd official anniversary of our orchestra, and yet it was ordinary because we didn't plan to do anything particular other than a concert and perhaps a quick drink between us afterwards. The usual, really. However, I wasn't aware that I was the only one in our group expecting only this.

 

*

 

"Dear audience," I greeted after our first piece. "We are extremely grateful to see so many people present tonight, especially since we are celebrating… Hang on tight there, I don't think you'll believe it… The 22nd anniversary of our orchestra!"

"They already know that, Abel," Jehan chimed in when the acclamations died down. "Do you even remember that we actually wrote it on today's programme? I'm the one with the entirely white hair, but you're the one losing your mind?"

There was a few laughs in the audience, and I took that second to send him a disapproving glare that was probably anything but.

"It's called theatrics, Jehan. A bit of dramatical effect for our beloved audience, without whom we wouldn't be standing here today."

"You have been animating our concerts for 22 years now. I would have thought your acting and your improvisation talents had gotten better during that time, and I was surprised it hadn't, that's all. I guess you made the right choice in pursuing a career as a conductor and not a comedian."

I inhaled exaggeratingly loud with a hand on my heart and tried to look stunned.

"Am I dreaming or did I just hear you… complimenting me? You've just implied I was good at being a conductor!"

"No, that was mere deduction. If the entire orchestra has kept you for 22 years now, it must be because you have some kind of use to them. I wouldn't know, though. I've never understood why you keep moving the way you do while we play, but I always thought it provided us with a bit of entertainment."

"Alright, I'm going to pretend I did not hear that. And no, don't even dare jibe about old age and audition problems," I anticipated, and Jehan let out a small surprised laugh. "So, as I was previously saying, it's been 22 years since we founded this orchestra, and I would like to request thunderous applause for the original members who are still among us!"

"Are you serious? Do you even hear yourself? 'The members who are still among us'?" Jehan interrupted before I started introducing everyone. "Are you hell bent on making us feel like old codgers living their last moments tonight?"

"You're the one constantly bringing this up! The audience is perfectly aware that's not what I said. It was meant as 'among us in the orchestra'. I wouldn't have blamed them if they had enough of your old mug and your dubious sense of humour and left us long ago, so it's even more admirable of them. Thank you, Anna… Kit… Samuel… Nisha… and of course, Jehan, without whom my life would be quite… peaceful, actually."

I squinted insistantly at Jehan but couldn't resist smiling hugely at the same time. Jehan got up from his chair, holding his cello in one hand and pointing his bow at me with the other.

"And let's not forget to applaud Abel, without whom my life would be… very empty, actually."

I sensed my jaw literally dropping a few inches from the serious look in his eyes. I heard a few Awws on top of the applause, and I was almost certain they all came from Jehan's sisters' families, who I knew were all present that night. But I couldn't find a single thing to retort. My relationship with Jehan wasn't particularly secret, but we rarely talked about it openly during concerts, except for a few more or less subtle quips here and there. Even after all those years, I was still a bit uncomfortable about mixing up our private and professional lives. However, those two simple and unexpected words moved me on some very deep level. I was about to throw all my reserves to the wind and rush to him to hug him tightly, when he nodded towards the audience and brought me back to reality. I realised silence had fallen back for a while now.

"Start the next piece," he reminded me softly with a smile.

"Thank you, everyone," I recovered, turning back towards the audience. "And without further ado, let's move on to the next pieces, and I hope you will enjoy your evening with us!"

 

At the end of a Bach and Vivaldi sequence, I turned to Jehan and lifted my hands high up in the air. Then I extended them on each side and moved them like a runway staff would do to guide an aircraft. Immediately, Jehan looked exaggeratingly surprised and lost. He quickly turned the page on his score and started playing out of tune while pretending to follow my nonsensical instructions.

The audience and our colleagues laughed, and I tried my best to look exasperated as I stopped.

"So you were actually telling the truth, earlier… You don't understand a single one of a conductor's movement! I'm starting to think you might even be pretending to play during each piece, letting the other instruments cover the fact that you aren't touching you cello at all."

"Oh, please, give me some credit. I know perfectly well how to follow a score, I just don't like being ordered around."

Offended, I turned to our colleagues.

"Am I hearing him right? Did he just insult you all?"

Each of them nodded and turned to Jehan.

"What? Why? What did I say?" he protested.

"Alright then," I said as I crossed my arms. "Prove us you know how to play."

"It will be my pleasure. Start the next piece!"

"Oh, certainly not. You will play alone, without the help of any of us, just reading your score."

Jehan squinted at me, then raised his chin, seemingly thinking about accepting the challenge or not.

"Fine, I will prove myself to all of you. Without any score."

This aroused quite a few cheering from the audience and I turned to them.

"I'm guessing there's a lot of new people here tonight who don't know you and have faith in you. I believe they are wrong, but whatever, let's hear it. The stage is all yours, dear."

This wasn't the first time I challenged someone into a solo piece, the audience always love those, and I trusted Jehan would deliver something wonderful. He took a few seconds to think, then sent a smug smile my way, cleared his throat and readied himself. As soon as he started playing, his eyes locked onto mine and I felt my entire body shuddering. He had never been one to settle for easy. He had chosen my favourite Mozart piece, arranged for cello solo. His incredible talent had always amazed me, and I often wondered why he had settled for such a small orchestra as ours, but I never dared to ask, afraid he would realise he could leave me for so much better. Thus, it was no wonder I was covered in goosebumps as he gazed into my eyes while executing a marvellous flute concerto.

The thunderous applause that followed, coming from both the audience and our collegues, was more than deserved and I joined them as Jehan got up from his chair to bow to the room.

"Today definitely needs to be remembered as the day I rendered you speechless twice in a very short time. And this," he continued while turning back towards the audience, "is extremely difficult to achieve, believe me. He is such a chatterbox!"

"Admit that was playback, just now," I protested feebly to try to get back on Earth.

"You are such a hypocrite," Jehan laughed. "Well, like they say, eeverything happens in threes, so wave your arms and start the next piece while I think about what I could do next to shut you up again."

"You just betrayed yourself. Now that I know you're planning something terrible, you can be certain I won't fall for it, next time."

Jehan winked playfully at me without a word and I rolled my eyes as I readied myself for a Corelli piece.

 

To challenge Jehan, I let more pieces pass than usual before addressing the audience again, and I smiled at my colleagues after each piece without aknowledging Jehan's presence. Out of the corner of my eye, I could see him getting restless, looking between me and the audience and very probably interacting silently with them, if the small laughs here and there were any indication. He was the first to give in after a Haydn piece, not long before the interval.

"I think he's pouting," he whispered loud enough for the audience to hear.

"So you call me a chatterbox, but when I'm not talking and just concentrate on the concert like you so very often ask of me, you actually miss my talking, don't you?"

"I have to admit the silent treatment makes me a bit nervous, yes."

"My goodness, you're confessing to a lot of things tonight!"

"It's quite surprising when you think about it. Since I grew up with two motormouth sisters" – a loud outraged exclamation rose from the front rows and elicited some laughs, but Jehan merely smiled and continued – "I was fairly certain I would prefer peace and quiet in my own home."

"I completely agree with Yasmin right now. Be careful where you're going with this."

I crossed my arms and tried to look furious as he put his cello down and got up.

"What I'm trying to say is that today, I can't imagine what my life would be like without a certain chatterbox in it." He glanced at our colleagues, then started walking towards me. "You talk a lot, but it's not because you want to get all the attention to yourself. You put everyone around you at ease, you're considerate, thoughtful, witty, you make me feel like the best of men, of musicians even, you make me proud to be the one closest to you, and at the same time, I don't understand how you did not get bored of someone so dull as me after more than 20 years together. Faced with your constant generosity, the only thing that comes to my mind is the selfish need to reassure myself by showing the entire world that it is me you have chosen."

By that point, my eyes must have been unusually large, and it was highly probable that my mouth was already fairly wide open, but I could feel every muscle in my face loosen up even more from the astonishment at seeing Jehan bend down with one knee on the ground. To top it all off, our colleagues started playing one of the most beautiful video game music I knew. I looked at my orchestra, my friends, and each of them smiled widely at me. When I turned back to Jehan, he was pulling a small box out of his pocket.

"All these years, you have made me a better and happier man. I definitely intend to continue doing my best to return the favour, so would you accept making me the most contented man by becoming my husband?"

Jehan opened the box to reveal the ring inside, but I couldn't tear my eyes away from his. Despite his very confident tone, he was visibly nervous, and it was ony after seeing his trembling hands that I could manage to articulate a few words.

"Of course I will…" I mumbled while extending an unstable hand towards his face, pulling slightly to make him get back up on his feet.

I startled when shouts and applause erupted from the audience, and I realised I had totally forgotten where I was during those few minutes. Jehan beamed at me and I resisted with some difficulty the urge to kiss him and hold him tightly close to me for the remainder of the night. Instead, when he managed to put the ring on my finger, I simply kissed the tip of my fingers before laying them on top of his beautiful white beard. I should however have predicted that he did not intend to settle for this.

"Oh no, you won't get away with just that," he laughed as he pulled me closer to him.

"We're in the middle of a concert, in front of a lot of people…" I whispered, slightly panicked.

"Then let's show them something they'll never forget."

He suddenly turned us around while bending over, and I found myself with most of my body parallel to the ground, my arms instinctively wrapped around his neck to avoid falling down. The audience whistled even more loudly, but I actually managed to forget about all of them again as soon as his lips touched mine. I couldn't say how long our kiss lasted, but when he brought us back up, our orchestra had stopped playing and was cheerfully applauding us. I had a really hard time focusing on where we were and what we were there for, and it was only when Jehan picked my baton up from the ground and held it out to me that I realised it had slipped from my hand, probably a long while ago.

I was incapable of thinking straight, so I cleared my throat and looked up towards the technicians box even though I couldn't see it behind the blinding spotlights.

"If that's okay with everyone, I think we need to have the interval a bit earlier than planned…"

 

As soon as the curtains were closed and our mics were turned off, all our friends and the present staff threw themselves at us to congratulate us. I managed to thank every one of them, but I was still completely disoriented, and I was glad to notice that Jehan was in a similar state. We probably looked like two teenagers, hand in hand, refusing to let go of each other whatever happened.

After a few minutes, I excused ourselves and led Jehan to the greenroom, where I could finally hug him shamelessly.

"You're not mad at me for popping the question during a concert, in front of so many people?" he whispered as he wound his arms around me just as tightly as mine.

"You wouldn't have done it if you really thought I'd be angry," I replied with a laugh.

"Oh, believe me, I haven't been certain of anything for a while now… I think I might have imagined every bad outcome possible…"

"I definitely believe you," I assured him as I let go of him to fetch something from my pocket. "You were brave enough to do what I haven't been able to for so long now."

Jehan frowned as he looked at the small pouch I pulled out.

"What's this?"

Instead of answering, I put one knee on the ground. I had been opening and closing the lace on that pouch for months and months, but in that precise moment, it felt like the most complex puzzle that ever existed. When I eventually looked back up at Jehan, I understood what he might have seen earlier. Unlike me, though, he was as beautiful as ever, even with the bulging eyes and the wide open mouth.

"Jehan," I started as I took his left hand in mine. "You said I made you a better man, but I never had the pretention to change anything about you. I fell in love with the person you were 25 years ago, and even though we have both changed since then, my love for you remained the same. I'm almost certain it actually grew stronger thanks to all the disagreements we overcame together. You are my musician, my confidant, my guide, my light, my family. If there had to be one most contented man on Earth, it would be me. Would you do me the honour of spending the rest of your life next to me, just the way you are?"

Jehan let out a trembling chuckle, and I saw his eyes shine with tears before he hid his face behind his hand.

"How could you expect me to turn down such beautiful words, when you said yes to my terrible proposal?"

"I'm giving you one last chance to say no. You have one second before this ring ends up on your finger forever," I warned him with a playful smile.

He quickly wiped out his tears with the back of his hand, then lowered his eyes on me again.

"I love you, Abel, and there is nothing in this world that could prevent me from becoming your husband."

I felt my smile widen even more and I kissed his finger once the ring sat on it.

"You know," I said as I got up, "even if you hadn't said a single word earlier, I would have said yes without a single moment of hesitation just because of that Kingdom Hearts music."

"You old geek," he laughed.

"Guilty…" I whispered before kissing him deeply. "And I must admit, I have been carrying your ring with me for so long now that it has kind of become my lucky charm. So if you don't want anything bad to happen to me, you know what you have to do."

"Give it back to you?" he teased before yielding at the look I gave him. "I'm kidding. You can rest assured that I have no intention of being anywhere else than next to you every day for the rest of our lives."


End file.
